The present invention relates to an information recording or information recording/reproducing device including a cartridge containing a disk-like recording medium, a disk mounting portion on which the disk-like recording medium contained in the cartridge is mounted with a recording surface portion thereof located substantially within a vertical plane in such a manner as to be rotatable with a central portion of the recording surface portion taken as a rotational center, and an optical head disposed opposite to the recording surface portion located within the vertical plane in such a manner as to be movable in the radial direction of the disk-like recording medium, wherein information is recorded or read into or from the recording surface portion by a light beam emitted from the optical head.
As one example of disk-like recording media, there has been practically used a so-called writable disk-like recording medium into or from which information can be recorded or reproduced using a light beam even in the form of being available as a finished product. In such a writable disk-like recording medium, generally, a recording surface portion is provided on a surface of a body around a central hole, and information is recorded in the recording surface portion as a number of annular recording tracks formed around the central hole.
The practical writable disk-like recording medium is generally used in a state in which it is contained in a cartridge. The cartridge is formed into, for example, a flattened rectangular parallelopiped shape having a relatively small thickness, and it has an opening portion and a movable lid member for opening/closing the opening portion. When the movable lid member of the cartridge opens the opening portion thereof, the disk-like recording medium contained in the cartridge are exposed, at a central hole portion and part of a recording surface portion extended around the central portion, to the exterior from the cartridge through the opening portion.
In recording or reproducing information into or from the disk-like recording medium contained in such a cartridge, the recording medium contained in the cartridge is mounted with its central hole engaged to a disk mounting portion provided on an information recording or an information recording/reproducing device in a state in which the movable lid member provided on the cartridge opens the opening portion provided in the cartridge. At this time, the cartridge containing the recording medium is contained in and supported by a cartridge housing portion provided in the information recording or information recording/reproducing device.
When the disk mounting portion is rotated by a disk drive portion provided on the information recording or information recording/reproducing device, the disk-like recording medium mounted on the disk mounting portion is rotated at a specific rotational speed, and information is recorded or read into or from the recording surface portion of the rotating disk-like recording medium by a light beam incident on the recording surface portion.
In order to make incident a light beam on the recording surface portion of the rotating disk-like recording medium, an optical head is disposed with an objective lens being opposite to the recording surface portion of the disk-like recording medium. The optical head includes a light emitting portion for emitting light for forming a light beam, a light beam forming portion for forming a light beam from the light emitted from the light emitting portion, and the objective lens for introducing the light beam formed at the light beam forming portion to the exterior in a focus state. When information is thus recorded or read by making incident the light beam through the objective lens of the optical head on the recording surface portion of the rotating disk-like recording medium, the light beam incident on the disk-like recording medium is generally subjected to a tracking servo-control, focus servo-control and incident position movement control.
The tracking servo-control is to usually, suitably keep a so-called tracking state in which a light beam incident on the recording surface portion of the rotating disk-like recording medium reaches a portion where an annular recording track is to be formed or a portion where the annular recording track is already formed. Such a tracking servo-control is performed by a tracking control means, wherein a position of the objective lens of the optical head is adjusted by fine movement thereof in the tracking direction for displacing a spot of a light beam formed on the recording surface portion in the direction (tracking direction) where the spot passes through a portion where an annular recording track is to be formed or a portion where the annular recording track is already formed.
The focus servo-control is to allow a light beam incident on the recording surface portion of the rotating disk-like recording medium to usually reach, in a suitable focus state, a portion where an annular recording track is to be formed or a portion where the annular recording track is already formed. Such a focus servo-control is performed by a focus control means, wherein a position of the objective lens of the optical head is adjusted by fine movement thereof close to or apart from the recording surface portion.
The incident position movement control is to move an incident position of a light beam incident on the recording surface portion of the rotating disk-like recording medium in the radial direction (which corresponds to the tracking direction) of the disk-like recording medium along with rotation of the disk-like recording medium. Such a control is performed by a head movement control means allowing the optical head itself to be moved along the radial direction of the disk-like recording medium.
The information recording or information recording/reproducing device for performing recording of information or recording/reproducing of information using the writable disk-like recording medium contained in the cartridge includes, as described above, the cartridge housing portion, disk mounting portion, disk drive portion, and optical head, tracking control means, focus control means, and head movement control means. As is known, the information recording or information recording/reproducing device using the writable disk-like recording medium contained in the cartridge is integrated with a video camera device, microphone device, an image monitor device, a speaker device and the like, to constitute a portable type video and audio recording or recording/reproducing apparatus.
In such a portable type video and audio recording or recording/reproducing apparatus, a video information signal obtained by performing image pick-up using the video camera device and an audio information signal obtained by the microphone device are recorded in the disk-like recording medium by the information recording or information recording/reproducing device, and further the video information signal and audio information signal recorded in the disk-like recording medium are reproduced by the information recording/reproducing device. The video information signal thus reproduced is supplied to the image monitor device to create a reproduced image, and the audio information signal thus reproduced is supplied to the speaker device to create a reproduced audio. Further, in recording the video information signal from the video camera device and the audio information signal from the microphone device are recorded in the disk-like recording medium by the information recording or information recording/reproducing device, these signals can be easily, freely edited, and further an information signal thus edited and recorded in the disk-like recording medium can be immediately reproduced in a significantly rapid manner.
In the information recording device using the writable disk-like recording medium contained in the cartridge and being incorporated in the portable type video and audio recording apparatus, or in the information recording/reproducing device using the writable disk-like recording medium contained in the cartridge and being incorporated in the portable type video and audio recording/reproducing apparatus, it is desirable to adopt a structure in which the disk-like recording medium contained in the cartridge is mounted on the disk mounting portion in a state that the recording surface portion is located substantially within a vertical plane, that is, in a so-called xe2x80x9cuprightxe2x80x9d posture from the viewpoints of miniaturization of the entire apparatus and improvement in operability. Accordingly, the information recording device containing the disk-like recording medium in the xe2x80x9cuprightxe2x80x9d posture is used for the portable type video and audio recording apparatus, and the information recording/reproducing device containing the disk-like recording medium in the xe2x80x9cuprightxe2x80x9d posture is used for the portable video and audio recording/reproducing apparatus.
In the information recording or information recording/reproducing device containing the disk-like recording medium in the xe2x80x9cuprightxe2x80x9d posture, the cartridge containing the disk-like recording medium is inserted in the cartridge housing portion in a state in which the recording surface portion of the disk-like recording medium is located substantially within a vertical plane and is then positioned in and supported by the cartridge housing portion. At this time, the movable lid member provided on the cartridge is moved, along with insertion of the cartridge into the cartridge housing portion, from a position where the movable lid member closes the opening portion formed in the cartridge to a position where it opens the opening portion. Thus, the disk-like recording medium in the cartridge which is supported by the cartridge housing portion with its opening portion being opened, is mounted on the disk mounting portion in the state in which the recording surface portion is located substantially within the vertical plane.
In such a state in which the disk-like recording medium is mounted on the disk mounting portion with its recording surface portion located substantially within the vertical plane, the head movement control means performing the incident position movement allows the optical head having the objective lens opposed to the recording surface portion of the disk-like recording medium to be moved within a vertical plane parallel to the vertical plane within which the recording surface portion of the disk-like recording medium is located. The tracking control means for performing the tracking servo-control, for example, allows the objective lens provided on the optical head to be finely moved within a vertical plane parallel to the vertical plane within which the recording surface portion of the disk-like recording medium is located. Further, the focus control means for performing the focus servo-control allows the objective lens provided on the optical head to be finely moved in the direction perpendicular to the vertical plane within which the recording surface portion of the disk-like recording medium is located.
When the cartridge containing the disk-like recording medium is inserted in the cartridge housing portion in the information recording or information recording/reproducing device, the movable lid member provided on the cartridge is moved, along with the insertion of the cartridge, from a position where the movable lid member closes the opening portion provided in the cartridge to a position where it opens the opening portion. At this time, the movement direction of the movable lid member is generally perpendicular to the insertion direction of the cartridge into the cartridge housing portion. The movement of the movable lid member provided on the cartridge along with the insertion of the cartridge into the cartridge housing portion is performed by movement, along with insertion of the cartridge into the cartridge housing portion, of a lid member control portion provided in the cartridge housing portion in such a manner as to be engaged with the movable lid member of the cartridge in this case, to relatively simply, certainly move the movable lid member, it is desirable to adopt a configuration that the lid member control portion allows the movable lid member to be moved in the direction perpendicular to the insertion direction of the cartridge into the cartridge housing portion.
In such a configuration that the movement direction of the movable lid member provided on the cartridge from a position where it closes the opening portion provided in the cartridge to a position where it opens the opening portion is perpendicular to the insertion direction of the cartridge into the cartridge housing portion, the optical head opposed to the recording surface portion of the disk-like recording medium mounted with its central hole engaged to the disk mounting portion in a state in which the opening portion of the cartridge is opened, is moved radially of the disk-like recording medium along the direction parallel to the insertion direction of the cartridge into the cartridge housing portion. Accordingly, the tracking direction of the disk-like recording medium mounted on the disk mounting portion is also in parallel to the insertion direction of the cartridge into the cartridge housing portion.
On the other hand, in the information recording device using the xe2x80x9cuprightxe2x80x9d disk-like recording medium contained in the cartridge and being incorporated in the portable type video and audio recording apparatus, or in the information recording/reproducing device using the xe2x80x9cuprightxe2x80x9d disk-like recording medium contained in the cartridge and being incorporated in the portable type video and audio recording/reproducing apparatus, the insertion of the cartridge containing the disk-like recording medium into the cartridge housing portion in the state in which the recording surface portion of the disk-like recording medium is located substantially within the vertical plane is generally performed along the vertical direction, particularly, from top to bottom.
This may be considered to be similar to insertion of a tape cassette into a cassette housing portion from top to bottom in an information recording/reproducing device using the tape cassette containing a magnetic tape and being incorporated in a widely available portable type video and audio recording/reproducing apparatus.
In the information recording or information recording/reproducing device using the xe2x80x9cuprightxe2x80x9d disk-like recording medium contained in the cartridge, however, if the insertion of the cartridge containing the disk-like recording medium into the cartridge housing portion is performed along the vertical direction, then the movement direction of the optical head opposed to the recording surface portion of the disk-like recording medium mounted on the disk mounting portion along the radial direction of the disk-like recording medium and the tracking direction of the disk-like recording medium mounted on the disk mounting portion are performed along the vertical direction, as a result of which the optical head may be in a state in which it tends to be moved in an undesirable manner.
In the information recording device using the xe2x80x9cuprightxe2x80x9d disk-like recording medium contained in the cartridge and being incorporated in the portable type video and audio recording apparatus or in the information recording/reproducing device using the xe2x80x9cuprightxe2x80x9d disk-like recording medium and being incorporated in the portable type video and audio recording/reproducing apparatus, the tracking control means for performing the tracking servo-control, for example, allows the objective lens provided on the optical head to be finely moved in the tracking direction within a vertical plane parallel to the vertical plane within which the recording surface portion of the disk-like recording medium is located. Accordingly, if the tracking is performed along the vertical direction, the objective lens moved in the tracking direction is susceptible to a stationary displacement due to the gravity thereof. That is, the objective lens is in an unstable state easily causing an undesirable displacement. In particular, if the objective lens allowing a recording light beam for recording information in the recording surface portion of the disk-like recording medium to be made incident thereon is in a state in which it is susceptible to a stationary displacement due to the gravity thereof, it fails to perform a suitable recording action.
Further, upon practical use of such an information recording or information recording/reproducing device, it is known that a vertical vibration is mainly applied thereto. Accordingly, if the movement of the optical head along the radial direction of the disk-like recording medium and the tracking of the disk-like recording medium are performed along the vertical direction, the entire optical head and the objective lens provided on the optical head are easily affected by the vertical vibration, thus failing to perform a suitable recording action.
An object of the present invention is to provide an information recording or information recording/reproducing device using an xe2x80x9cuprightxe2x80x9d disk-like recording medium contained in a cartridge, including a cartridge housing portion in which the cartridge containing the disk-like recording medium is inserted in a posture in which a recording surface portion of the disk-like recording medium is substantially located within a vertical plane, a disk mounting portion on which the disk-like recording medium contained in the cartridge supported by the cartridge housing portion is mounted in a state in which the recording surface portion is substantially located within a vertical plane, and an optical head portion having an objective lens opposed to the recording surface portion of the disk-like recording medium mounted on the disk mounting portion, wherein the objective lens can be stably moved with less undesirable displacement in the tracking direction within a vertical plane parallel to the vertical plane within which the recording surface portion of the disk-like recording medium is located, and the entire optical head portion including the objective lens is avoided from being undesirably moved.
To achieve the above object, according a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information recording device including:
a disk mounting portion on which a disk-like recording medium contained in a cartridge is mounted with a recording surface portion of the disk-like recording medium located substantially within a vertical plane in such a manner as to be rotatable with a central portion of the recording surface portion taken as a rotational center;
an optical head portion including an objective lens disposed opposite to the recording surface portion of the disk-like recording medium mounted on the disk mounting portion and allowing a light beam for recording information to be made incident on the recording surface portion through the objective lens;
an optical head drive portion for moving the optical head portion along the radial direction of the disk-like recording medium mounted on the disk mounting portion;
a tracking control portion for moving the objective lens in the direction substantially parallel to the movement direction of the optical head portion along the radial direction of the disk-like recording medium, thereby controlling a tracking state in which the light beam incident through the objective lens on the recording surface portion of the disk-like recording medium mounted on the disk mounting portion reaches a recording track in the recording surface portion; and
a cartridge housing portion for housing and supporting the cartridge containing the disk-like recording medium when the disk-like recording medium is mounted on the disk mounting portion;
wherein when the disk-like recording medium is mounted on the disk mounting portion, the cartridge containing the disk-like recording medium is inserted in the cartridge housing portion in the direction crossing the vertical direction, and the movement of the objective lens by the tracking control portion with respect to the disklike recording medium mounted on the disk mounting portion in the state in which the cartridge is supported by the cartridge housing portion is performed in the direction substantially perpendicular to the vertical direction.
To achieve the above object, according to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information recording/reproducing device including:
a disk mounting portion on which a disk-like recording medium contained in a cartridge is mounted with a recording surface portion of the disk-like recording medium located substantially within a vertical plane in such a manner as to be rotatable with a central portion of the recording surface portion taken as a rotational center;
an optical head portion including an objective lens disposed opposite to the recording surface portion of the disk-like recording medium mounted on the disk mounting portion and selectively making incident a light beam for recording information or a light beam for reading information on the recording surface portion through the objective lens;
an optical head drive portion for moving the optical head portion along the radial direction of the disk-like recording medium mounted on the disk mounting portion;
a tracking control portion for moving the objective lens in the direction substantially parallel to the movement direction of the optical head portion along the radial direction of the disk-like recording medium, thereby controlling a tracking state in which the light beam incident through the objective lens on the recording surface portion of the disk-like recording medium mounted on the disk mounting portion reaches a recording track in the recording surface portion; and
a cartridge housing portion for housing and supporting the cartridge containing the disk-like recording medium when the disk-like recording medium is mounted on the disk mounting portion;
wherein when the disk-like recording medium is mounted on the disk mounting portion, the cartridge containing the disk-like recording medium is inserted in the cartridge housing portion in the direction crossing the vertical direction, and the movement of the objective lens by the tracking control portion with respect to the disk-like recording medium mounted on the disk mounting portion in the state in which the cartridge is supported by the cartridge housing portion is performed in the direction substantially perpendicular to the vertical direction.
In the above information recording or information recording/reproducing device of the present invention, preferably, when the disk-like recording medium is mounted on the disk mounting portion, the cartridge containing the disk-like recording medium is inserted in the cartridge housing portion in the direction substantially perpendicular to the vertical direction.
In the information recording or information recording/reproducing device of the present invention, when the disk-like recording medium contained in the cartridge is mounted on the disk mounting portion, the cartridge containing the disk-like recording medium is inserted in the cartridge housing portion in the direction crossing the vertical direction, for example, in the direction substantially perpendicular to the vertical direction. As a result, the movement of the optical head opposed to the recording surface portion of the disk-like recording medium mounted on the disk mounting portion along the radial direction of the disk-like recording medium in a state in which the cartridge is supported by the cartridge housing portion and the tracking of the disk-like recording medium mounted on the mounting portion are performed in the direction crossing the vertical direction, for example, in the direction substantially perpendicular to the vertical direction.
When a light beam for recording information or reading information is made incident on the recording surface portion of the disk-like recording medium mounted on the disk mounting portion with the recording surface portion substantially located within the vertical plane from the optical head portion including the objective lens disposed opposite to the recording surface portion through the objective lens, the tracking control portion allows the objective lens to be moved radially of the disk-like recording medium in the direction substantially perpendicular to the vertical direction, to thereby control a tracking state in which the light beam incident on the recording surface portion of the disk-like recording medium reaches a recording track in the recording surface portion. Also the optical head drive portion allows the optical head portion to be moved radially of the disk-like recording medium in the direction substantially perpendicular to the vertical direction.
Accordingly, the movement of the objective lens in the tracking direction within the vertical plane parallel to the vertical plane within which the recording surface portion of the disk-like recording medium mounted on the disk mounting portion is located in the state in which the cartridge is supported by the cartridge housing portion, is performed along the direction substantially perpendicular to the vertical direction. As a result, the objective lens is less susceptible to a stationary displacement due to the gravity thereof and a displacement due to a vertical vibration applied to the apparatus, and thereby it can be moved stably with less undesirable displacement. Further, the entire optical head portion including the objective lens is prevented from being affected by the vertical vibration applied to the apparatus, and is avoided from being undesirably moved.